The latest episode of Friday Night SmackDown saw Jey Uso explain his actions from Raw days prior, saying he had no choice but to stick with his family in the war between Sami Zayn and The Bloodline. Jey and Jimmy Uso then called out Cody Rhodes, only for a hooded Zayn to jump Jey from behind as Rhodes prepared to fight. The episode went off the air with Rhodes and Zayn standing tall, but it was clear nothing had been resolved.
Jey then appeared on the SmackDown LowDown and called for Zayn to meet him in the ring on next week’s SmackDown — “Hey Sami. Next week, I’m gonna see you in the middle of that ring, Uce. So, pull up.”
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As for this week’s Raw, the big question will be whether or not Zayn can finally convince Kevin Owens to join him in fighting off The Bloodline. Zayn finally turned on the group at the Royal Rumble when they attempted to end Owens’ career, but KO wasn’t won over by Zayn’s actions. He has since repeatedly told Zayn that he intends to fight Roman Reigns’ faction on his own. Reports of Zayn and Owens challenging The Usos for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 39 have been spreading for months.
Update: Rhodes defeated Solo Sikoa via DQ at a WWE live event in Madison Square Garden on Sunday and will face LA Knight on tonight’s Raw. Owens will also be in action on Raw, taking on Sikoa in a Street Fight.
Cody Rhodes on WWE Fans Supporting Sami Zayn
While Zayn and Owens’ WrestleMania plans haven’t been confirmed, Rhodes’ path to the biggest event of the year is set in stone — he’ll challenge Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the main event. Rhodes was recently on the Out of Character Podcast and talked about fans getting behind Zayn while he was simultaneously getting the biggest push of his career.
“I looked at it as a challenge, is probably the best way to look at it, and not a negative challenge,” Rhodes said. “Sami is doing amazing things. You didn’t just buy yourself some future spot. You’ve got to get back in there and show people exactly what you can do. What a great problem to have when you have two very strong characters. One of the worst things we can do as a community is trying to turn the characters against one another. Sami got his shot in Montreal, in his hometown, and came as close as anyone. Drew may be very similar in terms of being close. Sami and I have a real genuine relationship. I thought, ‘Well, if they love him, and I’m been so lucky that they love me in this moment too, I better make sure I give them the absolute best, and again, leave no doubt.’ I never once looked at it as a problem. I looked at it as a challenge and for WWE as a whole, a great problem to have.”
“Every show is a little more telling, but Brooklyn, in the Barclays Center, that filled me with confidence as far as their belief in what he’s doing and their belief in what I’m doing,” he continued. “There are stories to be finished here for both sides and the worst thing you can do is turn those against each other. As we stood there I thought, ‘Well, I’d love to wrestle this guy.’ I would love to wrestle this guy because you know, Sami wasn’t sweating me when I was Stardust, and rightfully so. He didn’t need too. He was coming up from NXT and on a roll. It’s a different person now. So very much it’s a match that I look forward to when and if it ever happens with somebody like a Sami Zayn. He’s a next level performer and he’s even more of an elite next level human being.”
